Happy
So happy
Affectionate (we tried to teach her to give kisses and this is the result
)
Serious
Mischievous
Curious (and oh, so sweet)
Restless
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Happy
So happy
Affectionate (we tried to teach her to give kisses and this is the result
)
Serious
Mischievous
Curious (and oh, so sweet)
Restless
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Our sweet girl is now a big 10-month old! She’s at such a fun age – funny, feisty, curious, chubby, wiggly, and snuggly. I know that I’ve said this in every single monthly update, but we cannot believe how well she is doing. It’s hard to believe that we’ve only been a family for four months now, because it’s really difficult to recall what life without her felt like.
And since this blog is essentially ZL’s baby book, I must document a few things about her 9th month of life.
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It could be considered cruel what we parents do to our wee ones come Halloween time…but how can we be expected to resist when they look this darn cute.
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We just returned from our first plane trip with Miss Z. I had to go to the Seattle/Tacoma area for a conference and since Matt’s sister lives there he and Z decided to tag along. It was a wonderful weekend to be in the Northwest because in spite of its dreary reputation there was nothing but blue skies, sunshine, and incredibly comfortable temperatures. Zoe was a wonderful traveler this time around. She loved all of the new sites and sounds of the airport and plane and charmed all of her fellow passengers. The only peeps she made on the airplane were squeals of delight which were mostly received with looks of “aw, isn’t she cute” rather than “would you please shut that baby up”. Zoe got to meet her Aunt Mary and Uncle Todd for the first time. They all got to spend some quality time together – riding ferries, traipsing around Seattle, shopping – while I sat in a drab conference room listening to speaker after speaker talk about the same darn topic. I had to keep reminding myself that was the whole point of the trip and that anything else was just bonus.
And speaking of bonus, to top it off, we made a quick overnight trip down to Portland for a mini-reunion with 3 of the families we traveled to Ethiopia with. I can’t really explain the bond that we feel with these families, but it is very special and like nothing else. I mean, we met our children together. We shared some of the most emotional experiences of our lives with these people. And it was so, so good to see them and their precious children again. The last time we saw all these kiddos – and they saw Z – they were all scared and a bit shell-shocked and so unsure of their new parents and surroundings. This time, the whole place was abuzz with happy and rambunctious babies and toddlers and it was just so much fun. Z officially wins the award for the “most changed” now outweighing everyone in the group except for the oldest who is three (and she is the youngest, by the way). We did a bit of exploring in Portland and squeezed in an authentic Ethiopian meal before heading back to Seattle.
Life has been a bit crazy since we returned trying to catch up with everything at work and home but we are slowly getting back in the swing of things. It seems that takes considerably longer when there is a little member of the family. It doesn’t help that the little one has suddenly decided she doesn’t need to sleep for more than an hour or so at a time. Not sure what’s going on – maybe some west coast jet lag? maybe a bit of separation anxiety? maybe she just got used to sleeping with us? maybe some teeth? - but I am sure hoping that things get better soon. Four nights of this and I’m already pooped. I don’t know how you moms with newborns do it for those first few months. Anyone else run in to sudden sleep problems around the 9-month mark? Any advice?
Off to bed, but I know my mom won’t be happy if I don’t post a few pictures first.
Anxiously awaiting take-off.
About midnight on the airplane. Not even a yawn (except from Matt and I).
At the market
On the ferry.
With Aunt Mary
Crib-mates. Made my heart melt to see these two reunited.
Portland Rose Garden
Isn’t she a doll?
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Hard to believe that we’ve been home for almost three months now. The sweet, tiny, quiet baby that we first met in Addis Ababa is now chubby, happy and oh so loud (but still very, very sweet). It’s been a month of big changes for our little family, as Zoe gets used to spending her days with her wonderful babysitter and I get used to spending my days away from her and in the presence of adults talking about numbers and accounting rules again.
So, here’s what our big girl has been up to this month:
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Wow, it’s been a crazy few weeks. My return to work (at one of the busiest times of the whole entire year), a long weekend away (packing when a baby is involved is not easy), colds for the entire family, an ear infection (complete with ruptured ear drum) for poor ZL, and then on top of it all…jury duty for me this week. Needless to say in the midst of trying to deal with runny noses and oozing ears and most importantly settling in to our new routine and of course performing three days (and counting) of public service at the most inopportune time, there has been little time for blogging.
We are doing very well. Going back to work has been difficult, but honestly not as hard as I thought it would be. I think this is partly because I eased back in to working slowly over the course of a few weeks. But mostly I think it’s because we have found such an answer to prayer in Z’s babysitter. And then maybe it also has a little to do with the fact that I’ve been so busy at work that I can hardly see straight and 8 hours at the office only feels like about 30 minutes. I really miss my time at home with Zoe, but I do enjoy my work and the people that I work with. I wish there were an extra 8 hours in the day so that I would have plenty of time for both.
Zoe is still doing so great. She’s become quite fidgety and very vocal these days. While she used to be content to just sit in our laps now she is constantly straining to grab something or see something or get down so that she can stand up. She’s smiley and chatty and giggly. She’s quickly approaching the nine month mark. Sometimes I look at her and she just seems so big and grown up to me — and it makes me so happy to see her growing and developing like she is but also a little bit sad to know that she will only be a “baby” for just a little bit longer.
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I’m sure everyone has been anxiously awaiting an update on Dolly’s condition. I’m happy to report that she seems to be doing much better these days. After our visit with the vet, we kept her on the doggy version of prozac for a couple weeks before deciding it wasn’t necessary anymore. At her worst the poor dog spent all of her time huddled under the shed in the back corner of our yard. It would take forever to lure her back inside with much begging, promise of doggy treats, and threats of beatings muttered under our breath. Once she did come inside she would dart through the living room (covered in mud from burrowing under the shed) and head straight for her “den” under our bed. When she did hang out with us she would climb on the furniture in ways we had never seen before and walk along the back of our sofa. After a few weeks of this, I was almost as big a mess as she was. It just broke my heart to see our sweet Dolly act like such a freak. And then of course there were the times when I really just wanted to strangle her for being such a pain in the behind. Anyways, all that to say that I think we’re very close to having the real Dolly back.
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While Matt has taken lots (and lots and lots) of wonderful photos of ZL since we have been home, it is quite difficult to take family self-portraits and so we have no pictures of all three of us together. So we asked our friends Matt and Heidi of Freedom Photography to do a family photo shoot for us. I love, love, love the way the pictures turned out. They did an amazing job! Here are just a few of my favorites.
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Just thought I’d share a few pictures from Zoe’s weekend. It was gorgeous here. 80 degrees in sunny. In the Midwest. In the middle of August. Unheard of.
Z fell asleep while we were getting ready for the Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning. We missed out on the fresh peaches, but who cares. Just look at that precious face.
We went to a lovely outdoor wedding and Z did so great. She was sweet and charming and didn’t make a single peep during the ceremony.
She fell asleep in her car seat on the way home from church. I thought it was so sweet how she snuggled in to Matt on her way to bed that I just had to snap a picture.
We spent some quality time playing in the backyard this afternoon. She loves being outside. Every time she feels a breeze she gets this huge grin and sticks her tongue out. It’s really cute.
We finished the weekend with a play date with Z’s favorite (and only) cousin. These two are going to be big buds, I think. They’re only about a month apart (Z’s older although you wouldn’t know it because Cousin C is a big boy) and are already very cute together.
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Our girl turned 8 months old this week. I could spend a few sentences telling you hard that is to believe and how fast she’s growing up, but that’s what everybody says about their kids, so I won’t. But just in case you were wondering — it is hard to believe and they do grow up fast. In light of how fast time flies, there are a few things I want to remember about month #8.
Zoe still loves the Jumparoo but no longer needs any assistance. In fact, she is now able to man-handle those toys that once dangled so far above her head and jumps with so much force.
We love this baby girl more than we ever could have imagined and are in awe every single day that God has allowed us to be her family.
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